Bornplatz synagogue
The synagogue on Bornplatz in Hamburg's Grindelviertel was inaugurated in 1906. It served the German-Israelite community as the main synagogue. The synagogue was devastated during the Reichspogromnacht in 1938 and demolished in 1939 after the property had to be sold to the city. The Talmud Torah School building was erected in the immediate vicinity in 1911 . Fifty years after the destruction, the former location was redesigned and since then a floor mosaic has been reminiscent of the synagogue. A public debate arose in Hamburg at the end of 2019 about a possible reconstruction of the synagogue, for which the Hamburg citizenship unanimously accepted an application for a feasibility study in February 2020 .
The construction
Until the 19th century, the center of Jewish life was mainly in the new town . There the community maintained two synagogues in Elbstraße and in Straße Kohlhöfen .
After the gate lock was lifted in 1861, more and more parishioners moved from the narrow streets of Neustadt to the more modern residential areas outside the city fortifications in Harvestehude, Rotherbaum and Eppendorf and above all on Grindel. Many Jewish institutions also found a new place there. The New Dammtor Synagogue was located in the immediate vicinity of Bornplatz on Beneckestrasse (west side of today's Allende-Platz). It was built in 1895 in the Moorish-Oriental style and offered space for around 500 people. The service held there was less orthodox than in the later Bornplatz synagogue.
In 1902 the community acquired a building site for a synagogue from the city of Hamburg. It was on Bornplatz 8 (today Allende- or Joseph-Carlebach-Platz). The city reserved the right to buy back the property in the event that the property was no longer used for its intended purpose, namely the construction of a synagogue.
Construction of the free-standing and representative synagogue, the largest in Northern Europe, began in 1904. The design came from the architect Semmy Engel and the government builder Ernst Friedheim. Their two plans originally submitted separately were combined into one and the construction was entrusted to two builders. On September 13, 1906, the new building was handed over to its destination. The then Chief Rabbi Markus Hirsch gave a sermon.
The synagogue was built in the neo-Romanesque style and crowned by a brown-covered dome. With a height of almost 40 meters, it was visible from afar. The facade was also covered in brown with architectural decoration made of red sandstone. The round windows were glazed in color. The main entrance to the west towards Grindelberg was accessible via a terrace. Behind the main building were auxiliary buildings with a weekday synagogue, a mikveh and administrative rooms.
The synagogue had 1200 seats, 500 of which were for women who, according to Orthodox tradition, sat separately from the men on a gallery . Another gallery was intended for a choir. The Torah shrine , a foundation of the Warburg family , was considered the highlight of the facility. It consisted of black, white and red marble with ornaments of gold-colored bronze.
The Bornplatz Synagogue was the first free-standing Hamburg synagogue in an exposed location. The old Kohlhöfensynagoge had a visible facade, but was set back from the street front. The New Dammtor Synagogue was hidden behind a front building. The neo-Romanesque style of the new synagogue, which was also very popular in church construction, was deliberately chosen by the community as a "symbol of the supposedly achieved equality".
history
The synagogue was the main synagogue of the Orthodox Synagogue Association in the following period. There was also the reform-oriented Israelitische Tempel Poolstrasse , the conservative New Dammtorsynagoge and a number of smaller synagogues.
The traditional Talmud Torah School was given a new building in 1911 directly adjacent to Synagogenplatz at Grindelhof. The building was not matched in style but in color to match the synagogue.
Since 1930 there have been anti-Semitic incidents in the Grindelviertel. Visitors to Jewish events were attacked and harassed and graves in the Grindelfriedhof (on the connecting railway / Rentzelstrasse) were damaged. The congregation discreetly requested police protection, especially on high public holidays, and the worshipers were posted notices not to gather in front of the synagogue.
A high point in the life of the community was the inauguration of Chief Rabbi Joseph Carlebach in 1936, which was attended by over 2,000 people, including 200 guests of honor.
During the November pogrom on November 10, 1938, the synagogue was desecrated and the interior was destroyed. A fire was set inside two days later. The exact sequence of events can no longer be reconstructed. An eyewitness reported, among other things, about the desecration of Torah scrolls. The building was not completely destroyed during the pogrom.
In 1939, with reference to the purchase agreement, the municipality was forced to return the property to the city at a low price and to bear the costs of demolishing the damaged buildings. On July 14, 1939, the Hamburger Tageblatt reported the demolition of the synagogue: "Where there are still a few sad ruins today, a friendly green space will soon make everyone happy." By mid-1940, all the remains of the building were demolished. A bunker that has been preserved to this day was later built on the site.
The congregation was able to use the New Dammtor Synagogue for a while, which, after being damaged during the Reichspogromnacht, could be rebuilt for worship with private funds. It was completely destroyed by bombs in 1943. Like many of his parishioners, Joseph Carlebach was deported and murdered.
In November 2019, a public debate arose in Hamburg about the possible reconstruction of the synagogue. It was triggered by an interview by the Hamburger Abendblatt with the state rabbi Shlomo Bistritzky. The proposal to rebuild the synagogue quickly met with broad public support. There are also negative votes. The Mayor of Hamburg, Peter Tschentscher, supports plans for reconstruction.
The budget committee of the German Bundestag provided 600,000 euros in its “adjustment meeting” on the night of November 14th to 15th to finance a feasibility study. The Hamburg Parliament has decided at its meeting on 12 February 2020 unanimously for a reconstruction. For this purpose, different variants should first be examined in a feasibility study.
The redesign of the square
At first only a plaque on the east wall of the bunker reminded of the former synagogue. The former location of the synagogue served the university as a parking lot. The preserved building of the Talmud Tora School was owned by the city and was used by the librarianship department of the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences.
On the fiftieth anniversary of the synagogue's destruction, the square was redesigned. Planning began in 1986. The first artist's draft called for the Hebrew lettering "Awoda". The word means temple and synagogue worship. However, the draft was rejected because it did not seem understandable enough. The second, implemented design by the artist Margrit Kahl shows the floor plan and the vaulted ceiling of the synagogue on the floor. The location and size of the building are indicated by dark mosaic paving, the lines of the vaulted ceiling are highlighted by polished black granite stones. The square is only accessible for pedestrians and the area is designed with trees and benches. A display shows its importance. On the side of the former bunker facing the synagogue monument there is a plaque with the inscription: “May the future save the descendants from injustice”.
The eastern part of the former Bornplatz has been named after Joseph Carlebach since 1989. In 2004, at the endeavors of the Grindelhof citizens' initiative, another plaque was inaugurated, providing information about the history of the synagogue and the memorial site.
The Talmud Torah School building was returned to the Jewish community in 2004. Since a renovation, it has again housed a Jewish primary school and a community center. In January 2020, the Hamburg Senate announced that it would transfer the leasehold building rights for an adjacent plot of land to the municipality free of lease for 60 years in order to take account of the growth of the municipality.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ A b NDR: Synagogue: citizens unanimously for reconstruction. Retrieved February 13, 2020 .
- ↑ Sakia Rohde: Synagogues in the Hamburg area 1680-1943 p. 158
- ↑ Pritzlaff: Synagogues in the Grindelviertel, p. 25
- ↑ Hamburger Tageblatt 11, No. 192 July 14, 1939, quoted from Ursula Randt: The Talmud Tora School 1805 to 1942 Munich, Hamburg 2005. P. 162.
- ↑ Edgar S. Hasse: Rabbi: "Let's rebuild the synagogue on Bornplatz". October 28, 2019, accessed on November 18, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Article in the Hamburger Abendblatt on the subject of "Reconstruction of the Bornplatz Synagogue" - IGDJ-English. Retrieved November 18, 2019 .
- ↑ One sign alone is not enough for everyone
- ↑ Tschentscher is considering rebuilding the synagogue that was destroyed by the Nazis
- ↑ Broad support for new synagogues
- ^ Edgar S. Hasse: New Synagogue in Grindel: Berlin grants 600,000 euros. November 15, 2019, accessed on November 18, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Annika Lasarzik: Judaism: "We must fill the memorials of destruction with life again" . In: The time . November 22, 2019, ISSN 0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed November 22, 2019]).
- ^ NDR: Senate grants property to Jewish community. Retrieved January 23, 2020 .
literature
- Christine Pritzlaff: Synagogues in the Grindelviertel and their destruction , in: Ursula Wamser / Winfried Weinke (Hrsg.): Formerly at home in Hamburg: Jüdisches Leben am Grindel , Hamburg VSA-Verlag 1991. ISBN 3-87975-526-4
- Irmgard Stein: Jewish monuments in Hamburg . Hamburg Hans Christians Verlag 1984. ISBN 3-7672-0839-3
- The Jewish Hamburg: A Historical Reference Work , ed. from the Institute for the History of German Jews. Göttingen, Wallstein, 2006. ISBN 978-3-8353-0004-0
- Saskia Rohde: Synagogues in the Hamburg area 1680-1943 in: Arno Herzig (ed.): The Jews in Hamburg 1590 to 1990 , Hamburg 1991, pp. 143-169.
Web links
Coordinates: 53 ° 34 ′ 4.9 ″ N , 9 ° 58 ′ 59.6 ″ E